


Valentine’s Hope

by Bonfoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cussing, F/M, M/M, Post-Deathly Hallows, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-05
Updated: 2012-04-05
Packaged: 2017-11-03 01:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonfoi/pseuds/Bonfoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When we grow up, we see things a bit different.<br/>We also see that love can only make things better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentine’s Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enchanted_jae](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=enchanted_jae).



> **Warnings:** Grown-up/Mature Ron; Begins slightly Epilogue-compliant, then becomes not  
>  **A/N:** The lovely Enchanted_Jae so kindly sent me a Harry Potter Valentine last. This is her gift. I hope it pleases.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**_ Disclaimer:_** The world of Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the copyrighted works of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., her publishing companies and affiliates. No profit was made from the writing of this story nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author or the actors/actresses who so brilliantly have brought them to life. 

This author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

Flipping through Harry’s photo album, Ron Weasley stopped and stared at the small St. Valentine’s wish. It was a bit the worse for wear: the edges were fuzzed, the picture was rubbed off across one corner, and there was a tear in another. Yet, he knew that it was this Valentine that had given his best friend the true love of his life…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_The Previous Year_

 

“I told you, Ron, Ginny and I, we’re not happy together anymore. Maybe we married too young, maybe we just weren’t friends before we tried being lovers.” Harry Potter, older, not-necessarily-wiser, and careworn, tugged at his messy hair. They were sitting in his office in the Auror Division, wards of privacy and silence bristling over the whole room.

Arms crossed and staring hard at his distraught friend, Ron shook his head. “Harry, you’re my best mate and my brother-in-law. Just because you and Ginny are getting divorced doesn’t mean I’m going to chuck it all out with the bathwater. I have grown up, you know.” He crossed his fingers as well, uncover of his robe sleeves, hoping he wouldn’t regret saying that.

“Ginny isn’t crying foul, either. Just because you didn’t come with her and tell us doesn’t mean you’re out of the family. It just gave us…” Ron stopped when he saw the disbelieving look on Harry’s face. “All right, all right, gave me a reason to ‘man up’, so to speak. We’ve been friends for over twenty years, and I **have** learned to hold my temper a bit, don’t you think?” He raised an eyebrow, eerily similar to Severus Snape’s infamous one, and Harry grinned tiredly.

“Yeah, you’ve grown, mate. Taller and smarter by the looks of it.” The Auror glanced down at his hands, finally noticing he was tearing at his cuticles. He shook his head. Harry asked softly, “Will you…I mean, will it make it hard, me being bisexual?” Only the rustle of Ron’s robes as he stood disturbed the silence.

Harry hadn’t noticed just how quickly the big man could move when he wanted. Ron’s sudden tug lifted him from his chair and into a bear hug. “Yeah, I’ll be so hard!” He shook his friend, laughed, and then set Harry back down. “Hermione’s had stacks of books around the house, strategically placed, mind you. Subtlety was never her strongest suit, but they’ve been educational.”

Ron resumed his seat, a wicked grin on his freckled face. “Harry, you two are adults and you love your kids enough to face this head-on. You don’t have to worry.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Harry, it’s been nine months and all you’ve done is mope. For a gay bloke, you don’t get out much, do you?” Ron’s voice echoed in the fireplace as he spoke through the Floo. “C’mon and come through. Hermione’s taken the kids, yours included, to Mum’s. We’ll go to The Leaky Cauldron and reminisce about giant chess sets and snarky professors.” His face disappeared from the fire, leaving room for Harry to step through.

When Harry finally stepped through, he found himself alone in the room. The muffled sound of voices came from the foyer and he stepped toward them.

“…not on!” someone hissed. “Your young heathen broke his nose. His nose, for Merlin’s sake! What are we going to do about this, Weasley?”

Harry stopped dead at the door, out of sight. The voice belonged to Draco Malfoy. Or, as he told himself at night, in his lonely bed, _the git I want to fuck_. Harry’s face grew red as his cock responded to the arrogant tones just outside the door.

“She’s a right menace with a right hook, Weasley. Scorpius worships the ground she walks on, but I won’t have his heart broken as well as his nose.”

Ron’s voice was threaded with laughter. “Malfoy, Rosie’s as smart as her mum and as stubborn as all Weasleys. Scorpius is going to have to learn some basic Healing charms or he’ll have more than a broken nose to deal with. Now, come inside properly and sit down.” 

Harry stepped back farther into the room and looked around wildly. _Oh, bloody hell, there was nowhere to hide_ , he thought in a panic. 

“Oh! I see you had company, Weasley. I’ll leave you to it then, shall I? Potter.” Malfoy’s words belied the gleam of interest in his eyes, but Harry missed it as he was looking everywhere but at the aristocratic blond.

“Oh, no, you don’t! Harry’s a father too. Between the three of us we should be able to figure things out so my daughter doesn’t maim your son and his boys don’t add to the problem.” Ron waved them all to take a seat and then Summoned three Butterbeers from his private icebox. “And before you make any snarky comments, these Butterbeers will keep hands away from wands.”

It took three more Butterbeers, a plate of hearty roast beef sandwiches, and a filched carrot cake before they’d come to some kind of plan to keep the younger generations injury-free. Harry had found himself agreeing with Malfoy’s ideas on raising a well-rounded child and how not to stifle their loving nature, all without much direction from Ron.

When they left, Harry by Floo and Draco by Apparition, Ron grinned to himself. He wasn’t a master strategist for nothing!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“He’s a wonderf…he’s a good man, Weasley, and we’ll leave it at that.” Draco Malfoy sipped his soda and lime with the air of a man going to his execution. For the past six months, he’d been meeting Harry at Ron’s home, sharing insights into parenting and heated glances when he thought no one was looking. They’d forgotten Ron wasn’t as oblivious as he had been, and living with Hermione seemed to have rubbed off in more ways than one.

“Malfoy, Harry’s a grown man. You are too.” Ron sipped his Butterbeer and grinned down at the blond. “He likes you. You like him. Don’t see the problem since you’re both single.” 

Turning the frosted glass on the bar, wet circles making an ephemeral chainlink on the wood, Draco tried to marshall his arguments against making a play for Harry Potter. “He’s the man who killed the Dark…Voldie…you know? He’s the man in line for Auror-Muggle Liaison. And…” He held up an imperious finger. “He’s Harry ‘Bloody’ Potter, someone who I almost killed in my youth, or at least tried to on numerous occasions.”

“Nyah, he doesn’t hold that against you anymore. Remember, I was there for most of it, and you never came close to much but breaking his nose, which if I remember correctly, you did very vigorously.” Ron’s large hand slapped the bar. “That’s it! You can ask Harry if he’ll be your Valentine and forgive all the stupid things and go out with you!” Ron took a celebratory gulp of Butterbeer and then grinned down at Draco’s shocked expression.

“What? You didn’t think I was going to stop you, did you? After all my hard work and the fact that you two have more passion in your little fingers when it comes to each other than most folks will find in three lifetimes? Nyah!” He set the empty bottle down gently and turned back to Draco once more. “He’s my best mate, Draco. You have become a friendly enemy, even a friend.

“Harry’s lonely. You make him light up like a Wheeze on Guy Fawkes. How can I not try to help?” Blushing at the sap that had flowed from his mouth, Ron gestured at the barkeep and another Butterbeer appeared at his elbow. “So…you in? I mean, are you going to make a play for Harry or not?”

Shaking his head and drinking his fizzy water, Draco Malfoy thought long and hard about putting his love-life into the very large hands of a Weasley. He thought of the months he’d spent bemoaning the aging of their children, of how Harry’s eyes lit up with pride and love as he spoke about James Sirius and Albus Severus, how they teased – together – about how one day the Weasleys and Malfoys would be related by marriage if Rose and Scorpius were anything to go by – he thought of how much living he had been doing ever since he divorced Astoria and found himself on Ron’s doorstep. Gulping down the soda and lime, and burping like a plebian, Draco nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I guess I am.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_This Year_

 

“Nice of you to come along, Weasley,” Draco said. He noticed the photo album was open and the page with his first Valentine to Harry was visible. “I still can’t see why the barmy git thinks that’s so special,” he joked. “I mean, he has me! What can that bit of paper and ink mean against that?”

Wrapping his arms around Draco from behind, Harry grinned over his shoulder at Ron. “It means, Draco, dear, that you are special, your words are special, and I’m a sucker for romance.” He gave Draco a hug and released him, coloring slightly under Ron’s wicked grin.

“Yeah, yeah, it also means I’ve got the best mate in the world, especially since he made certain I found someone to spend all my Valentine Days with,” Harry muttered.

Ron laughed and tugged Harry’s arm. “C’mon, you two. Hermione’s got reservations at noon, and we’ll be late as it is.” They all laughed and left the room.

As noon of St. Valentine’s came and went, the message on the valentine flashed:

_Sweet Harry,  
Please say you’ll be mine this St. Valentine’s Day?  
If you don’t, Weasley will make my life miserable!  
Love, Draco_

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_~~~ Comments, like rain in the desert, are greatly appreciated.  
Thank you for reading. ~~~_


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